Growth continues at William Carey

Jun. 25, 2013

Masons work on the new women's residence hall on the Hattiesburg campus of William Carey University. The $4.5 million, 96-bed residence hall is scheduled for completion in August. / Bryant Hawkins/Hattiesburg American

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American Staff Writer

William Carey University

William Carey University is a private Baptist university with campuses in Hattiesburg and at the Tradition Planned Community in Harrison County. A third nursing campus in New Orleans is scheduled for closure in December, with the university’s nursing classes now offered at Delgado Community College in Slidell, La., in addition to the main Hattiesburg campus. William Carey is funded primarily through student tuition as well as more than $2 million annually from the Mississippi Baptist Convention. • Operating Budget: $47.2 million • Enrollment: 4,118 students • Faculty and staff: 172 full-time instructors; 18 part-time; 121 adjuncts; 164 staff • Tuition: $10,090 per year undergraduate tuition

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William Carey University keeps growing and growing, expanding its presence beyond the wrought iron fence that once marked the boundary of the Hattiesburg campus.

Officials at the private Baptist university unveiled four building projects in May that will greatly alter the campus’ appearance when the dust settles from construction.

“The rapid growth of Carey during the past six years has created a pressure for more space,” President Tommy King explained.

“We are fortunate enough to be in a financial position, due to the support of faithful donors, to move forward with these much-needed buildings.”

The largest project, scheduled for a late summer groundbreaking, is a new $12 million, private bond-funded gymnasium that will expand the campus’s footprint south of Wheeler Baseball Field on County Road.

The building itself will cost $10 million, with another $2 million reserved for new streets and parking to connect the structure with the rest of campus. When completed, it will be six times larger than the campus’s current gym space.

Also on the horizon are an $800,000 chapel, a new $2 million wing to the College of Osteopathic Medicine and a new $4 million School of Business that will stand across Tuscan Avenue from the medical school.

Construction should be underway on all three projects by mid-summer. Both the chapel and medical wing are fully paid for, while a fundraising campaign will supplement the generous lead private gift that is initiating the business school project.

Meanwhile, workers are wrapping up a $4.5 million, 96-bed residence hall, scheduled for completion in August, to relieve the university’s housing shortage. It’s the first residence hall on campus to have private baths.

Driving this construction is an enrollment boom that has seen the school surpass 4,000 students, shooting up 28 percent in student population since 2009.

A contributing factor to that growth was the opening of the state’s second medical school in 2010, which will bring its fourth class of 100 students to campus this fall.

The med school will also graduate its first class in the spring, making it eligible for full accreditation from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation.

The extent of the university’s growth in recent years prompted King in March to appoint as provost Scott Hummel, the school’s vice president for advancement and church relations since 2008. The provost position had been vacant since 2006.

Hummel has become King’s right-hand man in the university’s big vision planning.

“I am honored to help the university in any way that I can,” said Hummel, who graduated from William Carey in 1987.

“I need assistance, and Dr. Hummel will take on a lot of the responsibilities and share them with me,” explained King, who has served as university president since 2006.